by Zhuang Bifan
The Tren Demon which had a bull's head and a lion's body was a special kind of demon that was unique to the 17th floor of the abyss. The most powerful weapons it had were sharp horns on its head and its claws that could rip rocks apart. At the same time, they could also release curses that would cause things to fossilize. People hit by the curse would instantly have their organs solidify, while their flesh became the food of the demons. Even the Demon Lord of the Abyss on the 17th floor did not dare to confront the Tren Demons, but to the mages today, the nearly 1000 Tren Demons could not hinder them.
Back then, Osric's Magic Legion swept through tens of abyss levels, searched for unique resources, and captured the Demon Lords. Although the strength of the mages was still far from the High Elves' Magic Legion, they could be regarded as a quasi-Magic Legion now that they had the Commander's Badge. The impact of nearly 1000 heads of Tren Demons was instantly dispelled by the mages, and the 17th floor abyss also disappeared, revealing the view of the true second layer.
Although the enemies on the subsequent floors were clearly getting more and more powerful, they could not even put up their defenses under the destructive attacks of the four Legendary-mages and Magic-Legion-to-be. It was such a smooth process that it made Lin Li and others more puzzled. That was where Osric's coffin was located. Even if the mages had the Commander's Badge and Lin Li had already detonated more than 30 gemstone bombs, everything seemed to be proceeding a little too smoothly.
In retrospect, they realized that the battles in the minaret seemed to have been extremely easy and even less taxing than the battle with the three grave keepers like Angelano and the other silver-armored knights. Even the battle with the Alchemical Undead Army at the beginning was much harder, and would've been worse if Lin Li had not found the control center.
With doubts in their hearts, the crowd found their way to the sixth floor of the minaret, where there was a door that was giving off a strong ancient and retro vibe. Through the flashing layers and ripples on the door, everyone could only vaguely see the seemingly dark and dead barren land inside.
When Lin Li tortured the Fire Demon King, the rest did not manage to hear a single word of their conversation, but afterwards Lin Li also told everyone that the sixth floor of the minaret was probably the place where Osric's coffin was located. Hence, everyone decided to take a short break here so that they could return to the best possible state, even though the first few layers seemed to be way too easy.
"Fe… Master Felic, can you…" Angelano murmured, seemingly wanting to say something while controlling the alchemy machine.
"What?" Lin Li asked in amus.e.m.e.nt as he turned to look at the cowardly Goblin. No one would ever imagine one of Osric's three strongest warriors to be a timid coward who felt scared to leave the Alchemy Colossus.
After Lin Li took a sweeping glance at him, Angelano could not help but flinch, and he only managed to muster up the courage after a long time. "We'll be reaching the sixth floor soon. Can you return the Alchemy Colossus to me?"
"The Alchemy Colossus belongs to you?" Lin Li questioned rhetorically while staring at Angelano calmly and touching his Ring of Endless Storm.
"No, I'm wrong. Yours. It's yours. Well, can you lend it to me first?" Although Angelano had green skin, he immediately turned pale after hearing Lin Li's words, and he began to break out in a cold sweat as he shook his head frantically and changed his answer.
The alchemy machine that was currently being controlled by Angelano was just a simple transportation device with no fighting power at all. Even a random Archmage would be able to deal with and defeat him easily. If Angelano could not contribute to cracking the magic traps, he would just be a burden to the team without the Alchemy Colossus.
But what if he had the Titan-level Alchemy Colossus? Although Angelano had been defeated by Lin Li, the Titan-level Alchemy Colossus seemed to be able to exert a strong combat power that was close to the Sanctuary-level under his control. The reason why Angelano had lost to Lin Li was the power of lightning contained in the Titan Dragon Spear that made him lose consciousness. Without a controller, the Titan-level Alchemy Colossus was undoubtedly only going to be subdued by Lin Li.
However, the mere dormant power in the Titan Dragon Spear actually helped Lin Li kill off the strong and formidable Double Death Dragons, yet he only managed to make Angelano lose his senses. That was enough to prove how strong the Alchemy Colossus was.
Lin Li glanced at the somewhat illusory gate. Although the first few floors seemed to be rather easy, the sixth floor of the minaret was, after all, the place where Osric's coffin was located. However, no matter what, it would still be beneficial to have one less burden and more combat power. Hence, Lin Li nodded and brought Angelano to an empty spot beside the team, and raised his hand to release the Alchemy Colossus from the Ring of Endless Storm.
Upon sight of the partner who had accompanied him for thousands of years, Angelano immediately forgot about the fear within him and maneuvered his machine to sit down. He then leaped towards it.
Only the joints of the Alchemy Colossus had been damaged by Lin Li, and those were the parts that were usually subjected to wear and tear anyway. Hence, he naturally had spare parts. Angelano first looked carefully at the damage done to the Alchemy Colossus' body, taking out some metal parts, and began to get busy.
"Felic, aren't you worried that the goblin might harbor other intentions now that he has the Alchemy Colossus?" Andoine asked with a frown as he walked to Lin Li and looked at the busy Angelano.
Lin Li smiled, and indifferently said, "Since I could subdue him once, I can do it again."
Lin Li was definitely not bragging. Even if Angelano was well-behaved and Lin Li no longer touched the Titan Dragon Spear or stimulated the power in it, he still had another powerful debris of the stars, Thunderbolt. The amount of lightning power contained in Thunderbolt was not comparable to that of the Titan Dragon Spear. Even if he didn't have the real Stars of Fury, Lin Li's replication of it, the crossbow, would give out enough power to subdue Angelano coupled with his level-23 strength.
Soon, Angelano stopped and jumped off the alchemy machine in excitement before ducking into the control room of the Alchemy Colossus. With a rattling noise, all kinds of Alchemy Arrays began to emit dreamy rays of bright light, and the huge body slowly rose from the ground. The Alchemy Colossus grabbed the alchemy machine that Angelano had been riding and stuffed it into its body before propping itself up against its arms that were placed on the ground, as agile as a warrior.
"Wow, hahaha, the great Lord Angelano is back. Shudder now, tiny humans!" A dull voice came from the body of the Alchemy Colossus, which was different from Angelano's sharp and shrilling voice. Lin Li reckoned that there must have been a voice-changing device in the machine. The Alchemy Colossus then moved and shook its limbs to warm up before stomping its foot down onto the ground, causing the entire earth to shake violently as the seismic waves immediately spread out to the surroundings.
Chapter 740 - Crystal Coffin
"Great Master Angelano, do you have any orders?" Lin Li had to raise his head to look at the tall Alchemy Colossus, but he had a cold and sullen expression on his face.
Angelano's smug laughter ceased, and he stared at the human mage Lin Li who seemed extremely small. If it had been in the past, he would have stomped on Lin Li relentlessly. However, even with the protection of the Titan-level Alchemy Colossus, he could not help but shiver when he saw the cold smirk on Lin Li's face.
"Master Felic, I was just saying that randomly," said Angelano as the patterns on the Alchemy Colossus flickered a few times. It seemed to be crouching, and its voice switched back to Angelano's sharp voice.
Angelano could live till now not only because of the strong Alchemy Colossus, but also more importantly because he knew to weigh the pros and cons. To be exact, he would seek benefits and avoid damage. Although he had always felt that he'd been defeated because of Lin Li's tricks in the previous battle, and had thought that
there would be nothing to fear now that he had regained the Alchemy Colossus again, after he thought about it carefully, he realized that Lin Li definitely had some backup plan since he'd agreed to let him go back into the Alchemy Colossus safely.
The torment suffered by the Fire Demon King was still lingering in Angelano's mind. The predicament where death was considered a luxury made Angelano feel terrified to the extent that he would shiver. Besides, he didn't want to die yet. Angelano did not have to courage to bet on it with his life. He would definitely not be willing to get electrocuted like previously, let alone die.
Seeing that Lin Li had subdued Angelano, everyone secretly heaved a sigh of relief. The size of the Alchemy Colossus was really too oppressive, and it was much sturdier than the Fire Demon King. Unless necessary, no one wanted to fight with such a huge guy like him.
After getting a good rest, the team formed a neat defensive formation and slowly walked through the rippling gate. Behind Lin Li, the Alchemy Colossus was being controlled by Angelano who was walking carefully, fearing that something would happen and he would end up offending the demonic Lin Li.
When looking in from outside of the minaret, the six-story minaret seemed to be only about 100 meters tall, with each story being about 10 or 20 meters high. To their surprise, the floors seemed to have become worlds of their own when they entered, with the sky seemingly thousands of meters above them. The rippling gate was originally only the size of an ordinary city gate, but when the Alchemy Colossus was about to enter, it suddenly became magnificent and expanded to a size that allowed the Titan-level Alchemy Colossus to proceed smoothly.
Everyone was imagining what it'd be like on the sixth floor of the minaret, where Osric's coffin was resting. When they finally saw the scene behind the gate, everyone got a great shock.
Everyone looked up to see that there was an endless void above their heads, with a looming darkness that seemed to be able to devour everything. There were infinite scorching flames beneath their feet, but they did not feel hot at all. The world here was completely independent, and the negative pressure of darkness, destruction, tyranny, and evilness that filled the space made them feel oppressed to the extent of collapsing.
In the void far away, there was a huge crystal coffin floating in mid-air, constantly emitting a faint halo that seemed like the sun and moon of this world. According to what the Fire Demon King had said, the large crystal coffin was the one Osric lay in.
"Damn, why is this here? Why would the lunatic Osric put the coffin here!?" Connoris roared hysterically in Lin Li's mind with a tinge of fear in his voice.
"What? Do you know where this is?" Lin Li got a great shock, and he immediately felt that something was amiss. Although Connoris was now only a soul that existed in a hammer, he absolutely had a lot of knowledge. It was said that he used to even be a real ancient deity. In Anril, there were definitely next to no places that would make him feel horrified.
"You have come to a place that you shouldn't. If I remember correctly, this is the 72nd floor of the abyss the Lord of Disaster Balak has dominance over!" Connoris' tone was rather dismayed, and he clearly wasn't optimistic about the situation that Lin Li and the others would face.
"Damn it!" Lin Li was taken aback by Connoris' words. Although he didn't know how terrible Balak's strength and powers here, he could tell from the changes in Connoris' tone that Balak was definitely not easy to deal with.
"Felic, what's wrong?" Andoine asked, expressing his concern when he found out that Lin Li's expression seemed to be a little wrong.
"This is probably the 72nd floor of the abyss," Lin Li said, not trying to suppress his voice deliberately. Although this news might affect the morale of the team, he felt that it would be better to let everyone find out early and prepare well.
Lin Li's words immediately caused everyone to exclaim, and even Andoine and the other Legendary powerhouses also had a change in expression. Although they had also thought of the space on the top of the minaret being overlapped with a terrifying space by Osric, it being the 72nd floor of the abyss was definitely beyond their imagination. Although there wasn't much information in the historical records and legends, they knew that it was definitely a forbidden place, even to Legendary powerhouses.
Although the mages were all elites who had been through countless battles and had outstanding strength and willpower, they were still extremely astonished because of the 72nd floor of the abyss' appearance. They turned around subconsciously, hoping that the door that sent themselves and others there would still be present. Unfortunately, everyone was disappointed because the door was no longer there, and except for the Alchemy Colossus manipulated by Angelano, everything became the same as the surroundings.
Although unlike Lin Li who could find out more detailed information from Connoris, they could tell from the various myths and legends that the 72nd floor of the abyss was a hopeless place. The Fire Demon King that had just had a hair-raising battle with the team was only a Demon Lord of the 68th floor of the abyss. Besides, the Gates of the Abyss had not fully opened, and the countless Fire Demons had not poured out.
What everyone did not know was the fact that Lin Li had heard an even more exaggerated description of the place from Connoris. However, Lin Li couldn't tell them, because they were already at a complete loss, and they could not afford to lose the last glimmer of hope which would cause them to break down.
Everyone knew that it was the 72nd floor of the abyss. According to the myths, legends, and their common sense, they knew that the powers of the Demon Lord here would definitely be stronger than of that before. However, Lin Li knew that the Lord of the Abyss, Balak, was not just a generic Demon Lord or a descendant who had inherited some legacy, but one of the 99 ancient deities that had created the Endless Abyss.
Just like Connoris, who was once on the 90th floor of the abyss and mastered deceiving the ancient deities, the tyrant Balak dominated all disasters such as worldwide wars, plagues, famine, and natural disasters, and thus was termed the Lord of Disaster. According to Connoris, even in the prehistoric times, the tyrant Balak had been one of the most powerful ancient deities.
Lin Li took a deep breath and slowly exhaled as the information that he had been suppressing in his mind resurfaced again. Looking in front, the large crystal coffin was floating in mid-air. He could clearly sense the unique aura of the debris of the stars, Nothingness, from the magical waves in the crystal coffin.
The aura of Nothingness made Lin Li rather startled, and since he no longer had another way out, he felt that he ought to consider how to cope with the crisis and how he should get Nothingness.
Lin Li carefully looked at the crystal coffin in the sky, and proceeded to scrutinize it while channeling his mental strength. However, Lin Li got a great shock; although he'd known long ago that the crystal used to make the coffin was definitely not ordinary, he had never thought that the massive crystal coffin would be made of the Resting Crystal!
The nature of the Resting Crystal was somewhat similar to that of the Crystal of Eternity that Lin Li had once obtained. To pharmacists, the Crystal of Eternity was practically a godsend. It seemed to be useless without being carved, but after it got sculpted into a potion bottle by a Master jeweler, it'd immediately become 100 times more precious and useful. The potions contained in potion bottles made of the Crystal of Eternity would enjoy permanent preservation, and as the storage time was longer, the pharmaceutical properties of the potion in the bottle would become stronger.
Compared to the Crystal of Eternity, the Resting Crystal was more than 1000 times rarer and better. It was said that the former High Elves enjoyed making beautiful and exquisite jewelry for the deceased with the Resting Crystal as even after thousands of years, the corpse would still be well-preserved.
"Damn, it's actually the Resting Crystal. No wonder Osric plundered the 20th floor of the abyss. Turns out he wanted to make this crystal coffin for himself!" Connoris began to sympathize with the demons of the 20th flo
or of the abyss that had been slaughtered for a crystal coffin.
The Resting Crystals could only be born in the unique environment of the 20th floor of the abyss, but even in this so-called place of origin, the number of Resting Crystals was rather low. Even the nobles of the High Elves would only make small jewelry pieces out of the Resting Crystal, but the power of those tiny pieces was enough to keep the corpse preserved for thousands of years.
Chapter 741 - Zago Demons
Ordinary people had never seen or ever imagined anyone go to the extravagance of using the Resting Crystal to create such a large crystal coffin like Osric, who had probably wiped out the entire 20th floor of the abyss for it.
The words of the Fire Demon King, the aura of Nothingness, and the extremely precious coffin made of Resting Crystal were enough to convince Lin Li that Osric and the debris of the stars, Nothingness, could very likely be in the large coffin.
However, at this moment, Rosen who had been silent so far walked out of the team, and then turned back to face Andoine and others. With a sullen expression, he said, "Now, we've already made it here, and I need to announce the main objective of the Supreme Council in this expedition."
While in the Alanna Guild of Magic, Lin Li had asked Andoine about what his motive was when he intervened in the exploration of Osric's mausoleum. However, for some reason, Andoine seemed to be unsure of the goal of the operation, even though he was also an authoritative figure of the Supreme Council just like Rosen. The information that he knew was merely based on some of his own speculation.
